Recession's Over—Plastic Surgery Is on the Rise!

If you're looking for signs that the economy is recovering, we've got one for you: Cosmetic surgery is on the rise again. According to statistics released yesterday by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 13.1 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures were performed in the U.S. in 2010, up five percent from 2009. (By comparison, the number of procedures performed fell 12.3 percent between 2007 and 2008.) Breast augmentation continues to be the most popular surgery, with nose reshaping, eyelid surgery, liposuction, and tummy tucks rounding out the top five. And facelifts actually experienced the most growth (the new boom for the baby boomers), with the number of surgeries performed rising 9 percent last year. Perhaps not as surprising: Minimally invasive procedures—Botox, fillers, peels, etc.—were also up—with nearly 11.6 million injections, exfoliations, and laserings in 2010.